


Mosaic

by jar_of_stars



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22139068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jar_of_stars/pseuds/jar_of_stars
Summary: Hela returns to Asgard upon Odin’s death, where the only one eligible and willing to rule the Nine Realms is a hostage she took to the Realm Eternal during the Vanaheim War. Hela and the rest of the royal family begin to chip away the images Odin created for them.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	Mosaic

The walls of Hela’s gray stone prison crumbled little by little during the last century of her imprisonment. She had been trapped in the cavern for a millennium, it was full of dense fog and the corpses of the army Odin sent to kill her. Two voices filtered in but she could not make out all of the words. Hela felt when Odin’s grip on his power wavered and that was when she hit the barriers with everything she had.

“Was I going to be sent to Jotunheim like that!?” The accusation she heard was laced with fear.

“No. It was to be as we discussed, but that plan won’t be possible anymore.” That voice was Odin’s.

“Were you going to tell me at all!?” The voice became more distraught. “That I-someone…someone would have found out. What if the frost giants who broke in-no, everything was secured for the coronation. Father, the palace could not have been breached by them…You-”

“You will be silent!” Odin bellowed.

The stone walls cracked with large pieces of it hitting the ground as light leaked into the cavern.

“Guards!” The second voice shouted.

Hela finally sensed the thrum of Asgard’s power as she was pulled through space and stood once more in the Realm Eternal.

Looking at her surroundings, she recognized the weapon vault under the palace and saw that she was not alone. With her were four palace guards standing shoulder to shoulder in front of a man with black hair, their weapons were aimed at her direction. She looked down at Odin where he lied against the stairs and couldn’t help her grin from showing. Odin was not able to delay her return to Asgard forever. 

“Who are you and what business do you have here?” The man demanded as more guards moved to his sides and kept a protective formation. He was the person arguing with Odin. Was he crying over Odin’s death? She could not think of a reason for anyone to miss him.

“I am Hela Odinsdottir. Odin’s firstborn and I am here for my throne.” She declared with her head held high. “I am your Queen, the Goddess of Death.”

“Asgard already has a Queen.” The man stood taller as he confronted her and his face did not show any previous signs of crying. “There is no record of Hela Odinsdottir. You have no claim to Asgard.”

“Does your Queen have a name?” Hela taunted. “Or is she just Odin’s favorite mistress?”

The man glowered at her. “Queen Frigga is recognized as the Allmother of the Nine Realms.”

“That _Vanir princess_ is not fit for Asgard’s throne. And don’t you see that he is dead?” She waved a dismissive hand towards Odin and enjoyed seeing everyone in front of her bristle at her insults. “Someone else is needed to rule the realms. And who are you to challenge me?”

He squared his shoulders. “I am Loki Odinson. Prince of Asgard.”

“But not firstborn.” Hela saw the smallest slip in his stance. “Bow to me and swear your oath to your new Queen. I will not repeat myself.” She moved to take Gungnir and briskly killed the guards with her dark blades as soon as they moved against her.

Loki stared at her in shock when they were the only ones left standing in the room.

“Guard the Allfather and the Prince!” Someone commanded from the entrance to the vault as more guards began to make their way down the stairs.

Hela deflected the daggers Loki threw at her.

“Warn the Allmother! Protect Asgard’s throne from Hela!” The prince ordered and held a sword in his hands.

The swords Hela threw found their targets and killed all of the guards who entered the vault. The rest of her blades were blocked by a shield of green seidr at the doorway.

“Go!” Loki shouted at the guards standing in the corridor as Hela closed off the entrance to the vault with large black spikes emerging from the ground.

The prince landed heavily on his hands and knees, the _clang_ of his sword hitting the floor echoed. Loki gasped and hunched over to clutch his hands at his chest while Hela pulled at his lifeline.

Hela felt his wavering heart beating as if she held it in the palm of her hand. With her other hand she took hold of Gungnir. Hela felt the heat and was almost a second too late to protect herself from the flames that engulfed her magic shield. The spear worked well enough as it was but she will need the throne to secure Gungnir’s power to herself.

“Allfather! Prince Loki!” Guards were unable to break into vault.

“Evacuate and secure the palace!” Loki’s voice rebounded within the room.

Hela closed her hand into a fist and heard Loki choke on his breath.

The fire was snuffed.

Hela stepped on Loki’s sword until it rusted and broke to pieces under her boot. She doubted that the prince would have the strength to wield it in his current state, but she would prefer not to allow him to have any ideas.

“I hold your life now.” She felt his heartbeat quicken but the fear did not show through his glare. Odin trained him well.

“I never heard of you.” Loki spat. “No one will accept you on the throne.”

Frigga's weakness had always been her family. To get to Frigga, she will need the prince alive. 

Hela kicked Loki to the wall. “I’ll remind everyone why they should. All of this,” she spread her arms wide as she loomed over him, “I did my part in building Asgard up on top of the other realms. That is until Odin realized that he could not put this weapon away quietly.” She finished by pointing at herself and felt Loki’s panicked heartbeats in her hand.

Wielding magic through Gungnir, Hela silenced Loki to stop him from countering her orders and to limit his spellcasting.

She moved further into the vault, picked up the vessel of the eternal flame from a pedestal, and went to the catacombs to revive Fenrir and her soldiers. Hela ordered her army to carry Odin and Loki but the prince shimmered out of existence in green and gold sparks at their touch. Hela scowled at the use of Frigga’s tactics against her again. It was what made tracking the Vanaheim princess and twins difficult.

Cold pierced to her bones as snow swirled through the room, blocking her vision. When Hela squeezed her fist again to track Loki’s heartbeat, the icy temperature lingered in the air but it no longer felt as though she was going to be frozen from the inside. The snow settled on the floor and crunched under her steps when she walked through the vault.

Hela found Loki crouching against a pedestal with the blood he coughed covering his hands. “You are making a mess.” She reprimanded at the sight of blood smeared over him and the bloody handprints left on the marble.

One of her soldiers held the prince up by the shoulders. Loki was kept on the edge of consciousness; she could not afford to give him any leeway to escape.

Hela climbed the steps leading out of the vault and removed the blockade she created at the door. Loki’s shield was weakened but held on to protect everyone else in the palace. She struck Gungnir on the last step before making her announcement to the guards in the corridor. “I am Hela, the Queen of Asgard. No one shall interfere in my way to my throne. One move from you and Asgard will be short a prince.”

The guards parted to allow her passage when they saw that she had their King and Prince. Hela struck Gungnir to the barrier and Loki recoiled when his thread to the shield was snapped. Hela marched out of the vault with her soldiers holding Odin and Loki at the back of their formation and Fenrir taking the rear.

At the Great Hall, Hela was met with Frigga sitting on the throne with Asgard’s council standing on the steps at her sides. The guards lined the walls and waited for Frigga’s command. Hela saw the identity of Odin’s ‘firstborn’ on the ceiling mural.

“Where is the other one?” Hela demanded. “Where is the other prince?”

What was Odin playing at? Did Odin anticipate her arrival and sent his oldest son away? A true heir would face her challenge.

“Hela.” Frigga’s greeting was emotionless.

“You remember me.” Hela frowned at Frigga. “Tell me why has Asgard forgotten of their princess?”

Frigga walked down the steps from the throne, the tension in the room increased with the crackle of seidr the closer she got to Hela. “Let my son go.”

Hela caught the wording to release only _one_ of her hostages. “You know Odin is dead.”

“You would not be here otherwise. If you do not harm anyone else, I will answer your question.” Frigga’s words did not reach the council as she looked from Hela to Loki. “Both of you will know what Odin had hidden from you.”

Hearing that she was not the only one wronged drew her curiosity. “Very well.” She had her soldier let go of Loki but she did not fully release her hold on his lifeline. Whether or not she pulls on it again will depend on Frigga’s answers.

Frigga dismissed the council who exited through a side door to avoid Hela and her army. The palace guards remained and Hela sensed their anticipation for battle. If she took one step without Frigga’s permission, they will strike against her. None of them knew of her rightful place on the throne they protected.

“I require a moment with my son.” Frigga embraced Loki and told her to remove the spell on him.

With a strike of the end of Gungnir to the floor, Hela allowed the prince to speak again. She grimaced at performing Frigga’s command but she recognized that for answers, she had to play nice for the time being. Her patience thinned the longer Frigga held onto Loki and spoke with him in hushed tones. She stared at the ceiling and scowled at the image Odin created for himself, wishing it would burn away.

When a healer walked into the throne room and led Loki out, she followed Frigga to a council room where they could talk alone. Hela spoke as soon as they sat down. “Why does no one know who I am?”

“Odin removed your name from texts and sealed everyone’s memories of you. It can be undone.”

“I will see that it is.” Hela answered evenly. She liked that they were getting to the point. “He allowed you to keep your memories of me?”

“No. He told me of you when he felt the Odinsleep weigh heavier than usual. I fully regained my memories when he passed.” Frigga glanced at Gungnir in Hela’s hand. “Some of the council remembers you now.”

As much as Hela wanted to push Loki’s words away that she would not be accepted on the throne, they stuck like a thorn. Odin kept her existence from others of the royal family. Was Frigga the only one who benefited from Odin’s strategies?

Frigga matched her glare. “Something will have to be done about the guards you killed.”

“They attacked their princess.”

“They did, though they had no knowledge of you. They were serving their kingdom. Do you wish to only be known as Odin’s Executioner?”

“Queen Hela is my title. I will have my throne.”

“You have been written out of the line of succession. With Odin’s death it will not be mended.”

“You mean you will stand in my way.” Hela bared her teeth.

 _How dare this Vanir believe she could deny Asgard’s true heir._ Hela was about to stand from her chair and as if sensing that his mother was being threatened, Loki appeared in the room with them. He was no longer covered in blood and now wore a green tunic and black trousers. Hela noted that he wore her colors and when she inspected Frigga’s dress, she saw that it was not stained from when she held the prince.

“You would have the youngest rule?” Hela asked.

Loki spoke before Frigga could answer. “I don’t want the throne.”

“You were fighting me for it.” Hela countered as she noticed that Frigga was taken by surprise at Loki’s answer.

“I was fighting you to protect Asgard. I was not fighting you for the throne. What is the point of knowing how to skywalk if I am tied to the palace? I can still aide Asgard outside the citadel.” He sat down next to his mother. “I know what happened after the war. I would not be accepted on the throne.”

Hela’s mind wandered toward the mural when the throne was mentioned. “Oh, the other one has it. I want Mjolnir back. It’s mine.”

Both of them stared at her.

Frigga began to explain. “Mjolnir is currently on Midgard with-”

“Why would the mortals have it!?” Hela hit the table with a fist.

“It is part of a test for Thor.” Frigga answered evenly.

“The other prince?” Hela watched them nod their heads. “I could beat the test.”

“Has Odin’s spell on him broken?” Loki asked Frigga.

“No. It was made with Asgard’s power. The spell remains until Thor proves his worth to Mjolnir and is fit to return.”

Hela did not know why she wanted to prove herself against Odin’s chosen heir but she will not go back on her word to get Mjolnir back. “I will take the same challenge.”

“I would go too.” Loki said in a small voice with his hands fidgeting. “Not for Mjolnir. I would go to Midgard as a mortal.”

Frigga’s expression softened as Hela’s soured.

“Loki,” Frigga addressed him gently, “I think it will be best for you to remain here.”

He shook his head and whispered. “This is the last place for me to be. I prefer to be mortal…Father is dead.”

Hela’s sharp laugh cut through the silence. “What? You think _you_ are the reason he is dead?”

Loki would not meet anyone’s gaze.

Hela tilted her head back and laughed louder. “Odin was getting weak through this last century. I should not be surprised that he remained the ruling King to his last day. Only his age had anything to do with his death.”

“Speaking of Odin’s death,” Frigga’s solemn tone ruined her mood, “someone will have to speak and take charge of the funeral arrangements.” She gestured at Gungnir still in Hela’s possession.

Hela grimaced; she did not want part of taking care of anything more for Odin. “I shall live in the palace and everyone will know that I am royalty.” She stood up and held out Gungnir while giving her terms to Frigga. “I will not harm anyone. You will keep your siblings away from me.” 

“You may have your choice of rooms that are not currently occupied.” Frigga’s voice was like steel. “Freyr and Freya will have no contact with you.”

“Do not forget that Asgard would not be at its greatest without me.” Hela chastised.

“I remember.” Frigga replied coolly.

“Good.” Hela shifted her gaze to Loki. “Then I don’t need to waste time demonstrating what I am capable of.” Hela smirked when Frigga now stood in front of her to draw attention back to herself and away from Loki. “We will continue our conversation on what Odin has done later. I will be choosing my chambers in the meantime as I deserve to take my due. Have everyone know that I hold a place here or I _will_ introduce myself by my God Title.”

“Agreed.” Frigga accepted Gungnir.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my first new fic for the year!
> 
> Everyone has so many names and titles. I wonder if everything would fit on a business card.


End file.
